Wolf's blood
by UndeadFae
Summary: Two wolves siblings in their daily life, getting through all the trouble of hunts, human hunters and the never ending problem magnet that is Atsuya. (Fantasy AU)


Wolves cannot be tamed so easily. They are wild creatures, proud and fierce, belonging to the wilderness, only really listening to their instincts and no one else.

If wolves are wild, werewolves are even worse. Shirou knew that by personal experience. Apparently, Atsuya never got the memo that their human half meant he should try to listen to his brother. Or maybe he knew and he just didn't care. It was probably that. And so it didn't surprise him when Atsuya casually left to go who knows where and came back some time later dragging a bloody corpse.

Atsuya was, to put it lightly, a mess: hair sticking wildly in all directions, ears constantly twitching and moving, tail happily swaying behind him, far too many smaller cuts and a bloodied adrenaline-filled grin. Shirou didn't need to look at the mauled corpse of a bear at his feet to know. He sighed, shoulders slumping, already knowing by heart the conversation about to ensue. If only Atsuya listened to him.

"Atsuya... what did I tell you about bear hunting alone?"

As usual, Atsuya didn't care, still grinning like a madman- which he probably was, unfortunately for Shirou's sanity slowly descending a bit more to hell with each day. Atsuya really had to thank his brotherly love , or else Shirou might have commited murder long ago.

"Come on, you know I can take care of myself just fine! Bears are barely a challenge!" Sadly, he couldn't deny that. By now, Shirou wouldn't be surprised if the bears actually started to fear him.

"I know, I know- I just worry, I don't want you to get hurt." Atsuya just crossed his arms, the pout he always denied now on his face. Damn it, he pulled the kicked puppy face way too well, his heart couldn't take this. Another sigh. "You skin it, I'll lit the fire."

"That's fair."

"No hunt trophies this time, please."

"I wasn't going to!"

"You were."

"Alright, alright... No need to kill all the fun."

* * *

After what felt like days of walking and sleeping under trees, the twins had finally found a decent enough cave to crash in for a few nights before moving again. With the fire lit up and dinner already taken care of thanks to an overly eager Atsuya, they were quietly sitting next to the flames, Shirou happily reading (for once without being interrupted, and boy was that unexpected) while Atsuya tried not to burn the meat, chattering about this or that as they decided their next destination, listening to the wind howl and watching the snow fall.

Dinner eaten and moon already up in the sky, they were ready to go to sleep. Or at least tried to.

"... Atsuya..."

"What?"

"Are you cold too?" He didn't answer. "I'll take that as a yes."

Shirou broke the silence again just a few moments later.

"Cuddle pile?"

"... Cuddle pile."

Curled up together next to the fire, the two wolves were peacefully snozing in their temporary refuge.

Shirou wasn't surprised when somehow Atsuya had managed to roll over in his sleep and use him as a pillow, resigning himself with a quiet sigh. He accepted his fate long ago.

* * *

"What's that book you read so much anyways?" When attempting to peek at the cover didn't help, Atsuya tried to take it off his hands, curiosity having the best of him. Shirou quickly put it out of his reach, knowing that despite his best intentions, it would be far too easy for Atsuya to ruin or dirty it.

"Stop that- I'll show you, alright? Just calm down." Atsuya stopped trying to reach the book, looking at him expectantly. "Anyways, remember that really old abandoned house we found in that forest once?"

"The creepy one that was definitely haunted? What about it?"

"I found this book there and- wait a second..." He tucked the book back in their bag, looking around in search of something he could use. Picking up a flower, he sat down and laid it on the ground in front of him, putting his hands over it and closing his eyes to focus. A small flash of blue light, a light blue flame in his hands, and ice covered the flower and part of the dirt in swirling patterns, a few stray snowflakes melting as soon as they touched the ground. Atsuya was staring wide eyed at the frozen flower.

"It's still a bit hard, but-"

"How did you do that?!" Atsuya had almost tackled him to the floor in his surprise, tail almost wagging behind him as he demanded answers. Not that it surprised Shirou, werewolves with a magical affinity were fairly rare after all. He just sheepishly laughed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I just read the book... Though the only spells I've managed to use are those with ice, so-"

"Teach me." Atsuya's eyes held a fiery determination, and Shirou knew he just couldn't say no to that.

"Alright, alright... but don't forget that it might not work, it barely did for me and I'm still learning."

"It'll work. I know it will."

Somehow, Shirou couldn't find it in himself to doubt that.

Despite his best intentions, Atsuya was far from a good student, distracted or bored far too easily. Shirou didn't want to say it out loud, but he was starting to doubt he could learn something as complex as magic. Atsuya could see how his brother was starting to doubt him, and so he did the only logical thing anyone could do in that situation- he tried as hard as he could out of sheer spite.

When one day Shirou was roughly shaken awake, he found himself squinting at Atsuya's delighted face and one of the biggest grins he's ever seen. Despite the very compelling urge to just roll over and go back to sleep, Shirou forced himself to sit up and do his best effort to stay awake. His yawns were saying otherwise.

"What is it...?"

"Look at this." He extended his hands, a small flame of an unnatural red and black materializing after a few moments. Aiming at the nearest rock, he flicked the flame at his target, dark ice quickly spreading over it. Atsuya turned to his brother expectantly, his grin growing wider.

Despite the exhaustation still threatening to take over, Shirou couldn't help but smile with pride at the sight.

"I knew you could do it."

* * *

As usual, Atsuya had left to cause trouble somewhere, waving off his brother's concerns claiming that there was nothing to worry about and he would be fine. Shirou just asked him to at least try and not get himself into too much trouble, well aware that Atsuya could be far too slippery when he wanted to be- that and they were too close to a human village for comfort. He just said he wouldn't make any promise with his usual grin before disappearing into the woods.

That was a few hours ago.

Saying Shirou was worried was an understatement.

An hour without any sign of Atsuya was already making him twitchy and antsy. Two hours and he decided to put away the book he couldn't focus on anymore, tucking it back into their bag and slinging it over his shoulder to go look for his brother.

His brother's trail wasn't hard to find, the familiar scent strong enough to follow without having to shift. When he smelled blood, he was already running, following the trail as fast as his legs could carry him and silently praying that he wouldn't have to bury the only family he had left.

At the end of the trail, Shirou found a very familiar reddish wolf, fur caked with dirt and blood, broken arrows sticking out of his back and a torn rope tied so tightly around a paw it was digging painfully into his skin. Blood was dripping from his teeth, the source a human with a deep bite in his arm, nearly enough to rip it off entirely. The group of humans surrounding him were pointing swords and notched arrows at the wolf. Hunters.

Shirou saw red.

When they were ready to attack and kill the wolf, another one, almost towering over them, jumped from the bushes, standing between the group and his injured brother, his snow white fur almost glowing with an ethereal light in the sun. Cold eyes narrowed at the humans, teeth bared and growling, daring them to come closer, to try and touch again his brother. Some of the humans faltered, hesitantly taking a step back in fear of the beast staring through their very soul. When the wolf took a step forward, frost was quickly spreading from his paw to the ground, advancing menacingly towards the hunters.

One of them was foolish enough to raise his sword against the wolf to kill him. He was frozen solid before he could even bring down his weapon. It was all it took to make the others run away.

Once he deemed it safe enough, Shirou shifted back into his human form with a small sigh, keeping his ears out for any sign of danger. Despite his predatory nature, he preferred to not fight to kill unless absolutely necessary, it was a small relief that he wasn't forced to. He glared at the new ice statue for a moment, anger flashing through his eyes, half tempted to let it shatter on the ground, before deciding against it- he had more important matters to take care of.

Turning to have a good look at his brother, he grimaced at the bloody sight, guilt already heavy on his heart, growing with each new wound he found. The only positive thought he could find in this mess was that none of the injuries seemed to be severe or life threatening.

"I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner..." Atsuya quickly shook his head, huffing and lightly pushing Shirou, a clear attempt to tell him to not apologize. With a tiny and not fully convinced smile, Shirou gently patted his nose before heading towards the bushes to pick up the bag he dropped to shift, securing it over his shoulder. "Don't shift back yet, we don't know how bad it'll get if you do- can you walk? We should get out of here before they decide to come back." Shirou didn't ask if he needed help to walk, knowing very well how badly Atsuya would take it with his pride and independence- chances are his stubbornness would only make his injuries worse than they already were. They both knew anyways that Shirou would always be ready to help him if he needed it, even if he didn't ask for it.

As expected, Atsuya refused to admit what felt like a weakness, no matter how small it was, and so he stubbornly walked on his own. After seeing how slowly he walked and how hard he tried to not put any weight on his injured paw, Shirou quietly decided to walk closer to him, just to be safe, keeping an eye on him to make sure he would be ok.

"I think this is far enough... let's take care of you now. Come on, lay down so I can take those arrows out." With what sounded like an annoyed growl, Atsuya complied, not exactly looking forward what was about to come despite his eagerness to get the pain to stop already. Shirou scrunched his nose in slight disgust as soon as he got closer. "You'll need a bath too- you reek of blood, it's like something died in your fur."

He got swatted by a tail and received a mouthful of fur in answer.

It was a painfully long process, but after what felt like ages, the remains of the arrows were laying in a bloody heap on the dirt, and Shirou sighed in relief when he was sure that there wasn't any stray scrap of metal left in his wounds. Fetching a knife from their bag, he gently took Atsuya's paw and carefully removed the rope threatening to cut off his bloodstream.

"Alright, you can shift back now."

While Shirou looked through the bag, Atsuya rubbed the red and bleeding skin of his sore wrist in an attempt to soothe the pain, wincing when every wrong movement made his wounds ache, cursing those damn humans under his breath.

"Stay still, please."

They sat in an uncomfortable silence as Shirou treated and bandaged his new injuries, occasionally broken by a weak complain or hisses and growls. Atsuya tried to look annoyed, but Shirou knew him better than that, taking in the way his ears were pressed flat against his skull, almost disappearing between his hair, noticing how his tail couldn't stay still, swaying and twitching the way it did when something deeply bothered him, fur bristling and standing up. Shirou knew his fur always did that when something startled or scared him, something Atsuya has tried to deny since they were children.

"Done." Shirou stepped back to give Atsuya room to breathe and check his own injuries. "... Please... please, be more careful... You know what happened to mom and dad..." The air was somber, painful memories of a desperate fight, blood and death surfacing and taunting them. Atsuya quietly sighed, refusing to meet Shirou's gaze, any trace of his usually playful behavior completely gone. Neither of them wanted to even think of that day, but sometimes a reminder of how fleeting life can be was the difference between dying or surviving to see another day.

"I know..."

"I don't want to lose you too."

"You won't." He sounded oddly serious, determined like few times before. Despite his fears, Shirou wanted to believe him so badly.

For a while, they just sat there in silence. Then, Atsuya glanced at his brother for a moment, his eyes trying to look at anything but Shirou when he turned to him with a questioning look.

"Hey..."

"What is it?"

"... Thanks. For coming to get me." Atsuya quickly looked away, embarrassment tinting his cheeks a rare shade of pink. Shirou only smiled.

"You don't have to thank me- you know I'll always come to help you no matter what. That's what brothers are for, right?"

Because it didn't matter how much trouble Atsuya caused or how much he tested his patience, Shirou would never stop loving his brother.


End file.
